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Reviews of Apologetics Books|
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Francis Phillips reviews: The Catholic Church and the Counter-Faith by Philip Trower
"This book is the eagerly-awaited sequel to Turmoil and Truth (2003). In his earlier volume, Philip Trower provided an acute analysis of what happened within the Church both during and following the Second Vatican Council of 1962-5. Here he explores the root and the branches of the intellectual and spiritual malaise in the West today and how they have affected the Church. After surveying the unrest in the Church from within, he now looks at it from without, as it offers a supernatural alternative to an aggressive secularism."
Dr Pravin Thevathasan reviews: The Divine Primacy of The Bishop Of Rome and Modern Eastern Orthodoxy: Letters to a Greek Orthodox on the Unity of the Church, By James Likoudis (For further details see: www.credobuffalo.com)
"This work is essential reading to Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians committed to the Catholic-Orthodox dialogue. It is a defense of Catholic teaching and, like all good Ecumenical works, is written in charity."
Francis Phillips reviews Hell and Other Destinations, by Piers Paul Read
"The tragic grandeur of Milton’s Satan in Paradise Lost is often remarked on; thus, drawn irresistibly by its title, I opened this book in anticipation of a damned good read. I was slightly disappointed to discover that, apart from the first chapter, ‘Hell’, it is a collection of articles, essays and book reviews written over the past 25 years. This serves me right for seeking cheap thrills."
Francis Phillips reviews Lex Orandi Lex Credendi, by John Wetherell, The St Joan Press, Chancton House, The Wharf, Midhurst, West Sussex, GU29 9PX. £9.99. p+p £2.50
"This little volume is subtitled “An examination of the ethos of the Tridentine Mass and that of the Novus Ordo of Pope Paul VI.” Much ink has been spilt on this subject over the last forty years; much passion has been aroused. To write a review on such a topic is to be placed in an invidious position. I will therefore be brief. The book draws on the writings of Michael Davies, 1936-2004 and is dedicated to his memory."
Donal Anthony Foley reviews, Ransomed from Darkness: The New-age, Christian Faith And the Battle for Souls, by Moira Noonan, (North Bay Books, El Sobrante, 2005)
"Ransomed from Darkness is an account of one woman’s journey out of the abyss and madness of New Age practices back to the sanity of Catholicism. Moira Noonan tells us how she was involved in the New Age movement for over 20 years, following a disrupted Catholic upbringing—she attended a non-Catholic school in her teens—and how she gradually drifted out of the Church and towards an interest in Hinduism. This was during the late Sixties when the influence of Indian religion of the popular consciousness was very strong."
Franics Phillips reviews The Myth of Hitler’s Pope, by Rabbi David G Dalin
"History in the short term can be fickle with the reputations of good men. Until 1963, Pope Pius XII was always regarded as a defender, even a champion, of the Jews during the Fascist period. Then, in 1963, Rolf Hochhuth, a German playwright, wrote ‘The Representative’, a play attacking Pius for his alleged ‘silence’ when the Jewish Holocaust was taking place. Other writers have followed suit, not least John Cornwell to whose recent, much-publicised book, Hitler’s Pope, the title of this volume alludes."
Francis Phillips reviews The Da Vinci Hoax, by Carl E. Olson & Sandra Miesel
"There must be few people who have not heard of The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. This recent publishing phenomenon has sold over 7 million copies and been translated into 40 languages; not bad for a work of fiction written in prose that limps a long way behind Ian Fleming’s thrillers or Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With The Wind."
Francis Phillips reviews Letters to a Young Catholic, by George Weigel
"This book is subtitled ‘The art of mentoring’, for Weigel recognises that to guide and influence a young mind requires a kind of imaginative tact - an ‘art’ in fact. His purpose is to show the intellectual and cultural riches of faith, which together form part of ‘His-story’, the true history of mankind."
Donal Anthony Foley reviews - Inside Islam: A Guide for Catholics, 100 Questions and Answers, by Daniel Ali & Robert Spencer
"This is an excellent guide to Islam coauthored by Daniel Ali, a convert from Islam, and Robert Spencer, an authority who has written two previous books on the subject. It has a foreword by Father Mitch Pacwa, and is set out in question and answer format. The questions range through all the basic sorts of queries that anyone interested in finding out more about Islam might want to ask, and the authors do not pull any punches."
Dr Pravin Thevathasan reviews - Unpopular Catholic Truths, by Oswald Sobrino
"Oswald Sobrino is a Catholic writer and attorney. Unpopular Catholic Truths, consists of five essays on abortion, chastity, contraception, the all-male priesthood, and the primacy of Peter in Rome. All five themes are unpopular, but true, and Sobrino convincingly demonstrates this."
"This is a book that thoughtful, faithful Catholics have been awaiting a long time. That the Church is undergoing a prolonged period of turmoil and crisis which seems unprecedented in her long and chequered history, is obvious. Those who grew to adulthood before the Second Vatican Council (1962-5) and who have watched the subsequent developments in the Church have felt anguish and dismay at the widespread disobedience to the magisterium, so-called ‘loyal dissent’ on the part of many of the intelligentsia, endless liturgical experimentation, scandals and sheer ignorance of the Faith that seem to bedevil the Church today."
Martin Blake reviews Philip Trower's new book, Turmoil and Truth: The Historical Roots of the Modern Crisis in the Catholic Church.
"This is a book rich in content. It is also the fruit of many years of careful scholarship by an author who has lived through much of the 20th Century. James Hitchcock of St Louis University says it is “the most comprehensive and penetrating account we have of the post-conciliar crisis.” Yet Trower cloaks his scholarship with consummate ease, and one can read the two hundred pages without difficulty."
James Likoudis critically reviews THE GREAT FAÇADE: Vatican II and the Regime of Novelty in the Roman Catholic Church, by Christopher A. Ferrara and Thomas E. Woods, Jr. Remnant Press, 2002
http://credo.stormloader.com/Reviews/facade.htm
Review of THE BELIEF OF CATHOLICS, By Ronald Knox, Ignatius Press: San Francisco 2000, (221 pages; Sewn Soft Cover, $14.95)
http://credo.stormloader.com/Reviews/belicath.htm
Review of THE COURAGE TO BE CATHOLIC: Crisis, Reform, and the Future of the Church, by George Weigel, Basic Books, 2002
http://credo.stormloader.com/Reviews/cobecath.htm
Review of One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic: A New Apologetical Study Of The Church
By Kenneth D. Whitehead, Ignatius Press (334 pp.; $14.95)
http://credo.stormloader.com/Reviews/oneholy.htm
Martin Blake reviews ‘More Christianity’ By Dwight Longenecker
“Hope is that sweet unhappiness that drives us to seek more and more Christianity”
This is a book that should make a huge contribution to the ‘ecumenical movement’ of drawing Christians of various backgrounds into unity. The author is unusually qualified to speak to the various ‘traditions’, having come from an American ‘Bible Church’ to Catholicism via the Anglican Communion, and indeed ministry. He was much influenced by the books written by C.S.Lewis, and the title ‘More Christianity’ is of course a sort of pun on Lewis’s ‘Mere Christianity’. Few books had more impact on Christian Britain sixty years ago than ‘Mere Christianity’, which became one of the seminal texts for non-Catholic Christians.
Donal Anthony Foley reviews A BIBLICAL DEFENSE OF CATHOLICISM, by Dave Armstrong
"This book sets out to be a defence of the Catholic faith through the Scriptures, and succeeds very well. It is not light reading, but perfect for anyone who wants to check on a particular point that may have arisen from a discussion with a non-Catholic, or who just wants to clarify something they aren't sure about."
Click here for full review ...
A Crisis of Saints by George William Rutler
"If you're a reader who likes to be challenged by a book, bullied even, if you like to laugh out loud at the boldness of expression on every page or snap your fingers and exclaim, "That's exactly what I've thought all along, or at least meant to!" If a book makes you want to grab a friend, or even a stranger and hold him fast while you read a passage, then I implore you to treat yourself to a copy of A Crisis of Saints."
Click here for the full review ...
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Theotokos Catholic Books - Book Reviews Section - www.theotokos.org.uk